The father of a 21-year-old man who was shot-and-killed on Memorial Day delivered a passionate plea before Rockford's City Council on Monday, asking them to take action to reverse the city's struggles with violent crime.

Tim Barth, father of the late Andrew T. Barth, made it clear that he did not blame police or aldermen for his son's death. He also made it clear that he wants to be part of the solution.

"I want to become proactive. I want to see a change," he said. "If it takes me standing up and screaming for the aldermen, for the police department, for the fire department to make change, I'm here to make change."

Barth said he's confident police will find his son's killer. He said more needs to be done to keep repeat offenders behind bars. He told Council members that he was once the victim of assault from a man who had a long record sheet and was out on bond.

"I know they will catch my son's killer. I have 100 percent faith in the Rockford police department that they will catch him," he said. "I guarantee we find out that they're a repeat offender."

Tim and Rhonda Barth were in Wisconsin when they got word their son had been shot. Tim was the first to arrive in Rockford to identify his son's body.

Tim and Rhonda Barth

Tim and Rhonda Barth

"The thing that was more hard than losing my son was waiting for my wife to get here from Wisconsin and have to tell her that her son was dead," he told the Council. "That's something you can't imagine having to deal with."